Reefcentral or Reef2Reef

[moga]

The Reefcentral was the go -to place and very active forum for saltwater fish/coral community and I used to be a regular.

 

so it's like Myspace who was the King before Facebook.  Reef2Reef looks like the go-to place these days.

 

which one you go more often? 

 

 

[moga]

Well.. i think i know the answer already~.. sorry for wasting your time :).

[YHSublime]

Looking to make WAMAS the go to place! 

[moga]

oh. WAMAS is the baseline!.

[howaboutme]

Having just come back into the hobby from years of absence, I was a bit surprised on how fast R2R has taken over RC. Even back when I was first active, I knew RC had issues as it was "my way or the highway" kind of discussions. Even R2R has the usual stream of consciousness answers which are super annoying but not nearly as annoying as Facebook questions and answers. I prefer WAMAS but I do participate at times on R2R if a particular subject is interesting to me. Plus I have a build thread there too. The answers from WAMAS are just way more thoughtful, likely from the depth of knowledge that exists from members here.

[cpu933k]

I hate how R2R is so commercialized and sponsor-oriented (the flashing ads/banners are tiresome), but I still spend time there. These days, however, I find myself spending more time over at Humblefish.  I haven't been on RC for years.

[YHSublime]

2 minutes ago, cpu933k said:

I hate how R2R is so commercialized and sponsor-oriented (the flashing ads/banners are tiresome), but I still spend time there. These days, however, I find myself spending more time over at Humblefish.  I haven't been on RC for years.

 

That's how I feel about Costco and Sams club. Every time I go back to Sams it feels like I get a heckling sales pitch from like 4 different people.

 

Seems like both reefing platforms have been outgrown by their membership and taken some hard line stances on moderation. RC first, folks went to R2R, now it seems like Humble is the new hot spot. I think NanoReef is pretty groovy, but obviously spend the majority of my time here. 

[AlanM]

I was on nanoreef.com for a while and would look up the owner at MACNA who is really nice.  I mostly hung out on their lighting forums because they were early LED DIY enthusiasts. 

 

When I started I was on RC and actually ended up on WAMAS because of Robert Chu (chucelli) who was a WAMAS member of years posting there about his early LED build (done with Zygote2k) and his 75 gallon tank in which he hadn't added any livestock for around 7 years.  I got a lot of my early coral from him because his tank was immaculate from a pest point of view.

[AlanM]

Wasn't Justin Casp one of the founders of Reef Central from way back?

[Salty Rambler]

As someone with less experience in the hobby, I find all of the various groups helpful.  When I suspect something is veering in the wrong direction in my tank, going to each of the forums and searching already answered questions, especially those with accompanying pictures, assists me in more accurately phrasing any future requests for assistance.  What sets WAMAS apart for me is the local expertise -- WAMAS members don't just have successful tanks, they have successful tanks with the same resources available to me in the DMV area. 

[lowsingle]

Reef2reef and wamas for me.  R2R exposes you to all types of new corals ....it is commercial, but it is free, so they have to make money somehow.  Reef central got crazy rude / mean about ten years ago, I haven’t been back since 

 

Darren

 

[Origami]

I started on RC. Back then, they also hosted local forums and WAMAS had something there. I posted in it and days or weeks later, somebody responded, telling me that WAMAS was here. That was my first exposure to WAMAS many years ago.

 

RC had some issues that cropped up between some of the admins and leaders and the public and that led to some people bolting. While I still frequented RC, I also started visiting Reef Sanctuary as some of my chemistry friends headed that way (e.g., Boomer). R2R followed later on and gained a big following. It's very different today than it was in those early years and, to be honest, I spend very little time over at R2R anymore. 

 

I'll tell you, though, RC has some of the best archived information that you will ever get. Back then, people were designing and building their own skimmers, calcium reactors, media reactors, etc. New ideas constantly surfaced. For example, it's where the BeanAnimal overflow first surfaced. Anyway, it was and remains an incredible resource that, with some digging around, can tell you a lot about how we got to where we are today.

[howaboutme]

8 hours ago, Origami said:

I started on RC. Back then, they also hosted local forums and WAMAS had something there. I posted in it and days or weeks later, somebody responded, telling me that WAMAS was here. That was my first exposure to WAMAS many years ago.

 

RC had some issues that cropped up between some of the admins and leaders and the public and that led to some people bolting. While I still frequented RC, I also started visiting Reef Sanctuary as some of my chemistry friends headed that way (e.g., Boomer). R2R followed later on and gained a big following. It's very different today than it was in those early years and, to be honest, I spend very little time over at R2R anymore. 

 

I'll tell you, though, RC has some of the best archived information that you will ever get. Back then, people were designing and building their own skimmers, calcium reactors, media reactors, etc. New ideas constantly surfaced. For example, it's where the BeanAnimal overflow first surfaced. Anyway, it was and remains an incredible resource that, with some digging around, can tell you a lot about how we got to where we are today.

 

Tom's right. The amount of info (and depth) at RC is 2nd to none and I often go there to search for stuff. I prefer the more "old school" techniques as well. Remember the DSB vs no DSB debates? Those were classic.

[moga]

Thanks for the info and brining back my memory. 

 

DSB vs No DSB

MH vs VHO

MH vs T5

T5 vs LED

Calcium reactor vs 2 parts dose.

 

Some Skimmer battles as well. 

 

Man , i am getting old~

 

[Origami]

20 hours ago, moga said:

Thanks for the info and brining back my memory. 

 

DSB vs No DSB

MH vs VHO

MH vs T5

T5 vs LED

Calcium reactor vs 2 parts dose.

 

Some Skimmer battles as well. 

 

Man , i am getting old~

 

 

I won't go so far as to call it sad, but we seem to buy everything these days. Back then, there was so much building going on because there wasn't much in supply - skimmers (remember air-driven, venturi-driven, foam-injectors, recirculating, wet neck, needle-wheel, pin-wheel, mesh-mods, etc.?) , overflows/silencers (Durso, Stockman, BeanAnimal...), kalk stirrers and Nilsen reactors, calcium reactors, DSBs, RDSBs, ULNS, sulfur reactors, cheap two-part formulas, vodka dosing, "solid vodka" (rice, biopellets, etc.), VSV dosing... the technologies and techniques list pioneered by hobbyists (that we use today) just goes on and on. It gave you a sense of being a part of the cutting edge - and made you more willing to try new things and report on your success or failures. What an education we received being part of that community back then.

[lynn.reef.nerd]

I mostly stick with WAMAS and Facebook. R2R is mostly looking for more corals thst locals don't have.

When I do need expertise information, I skim r2r and rc and make my own educated solution base on all the information (a lot of info out there).

RC was before my time. I came in during the peak of r2r.

Lots of good info on wamas, r2r, and rc. Just have to dig through all the BS for the good ones.


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